Asteroids (Playstation)

Genre: Action
Players: 1 or 2
Dual Shock Compatible: Yes
Difficulty: Easy to Moderate


The year was 1979, people flocked to the arcades to drop quarters by the bucket loads to play a craze called Asteroids. A game pitting you in the middle of outer space to fight an endless supply of asteroids and unidentified flying objects. Sounds like a typical classic from the late 70's and early 80's, you against an endless supply of enemies.

GAMEPLAY: The object of Asteroids is to blast everything to advance to the next round of asteroids to blast. In Activision's updated version, you have three ships to choose from, each with its own unique strengths and weaknesses, which also include speed and shield capacity. There are five areas with 15 levels each to blast, blast and blast everything in sight. Before each area, you are briefed about your upcoming mission and then presented with a nice FMV showing you exactly what you are up against. In one area you must avoid being sucked literally into a black hole while another you must stop an all out vaporization attempt by aliens to destroy the earth. And to help you along the way are tons of cool powerups that includes everything from a plasma drill to Armageddon, a smart bomb type weapon. However, the nicest edition to Asteroids is the shield, which can be used to deflect asteroid and avoid enemies and their fire. The original version of Asteroids is "hidden." Unfortunately, the original version's emulator is horrible, especially collision detection. Asteroids also boasts a two player mode as well where two opponents can duke it out for Asteroids supremacy.

CONTROL: Controls are responsive and adequate. (8/10)

GRAPHICS: Activision decided to pay attention to very minute details especially dealing with particle effects, which includes things like a blown up asteroid or the ship's lit up thruster. Each area has its own unique breathtaking 3-D background. The asteroids and UFO's are nothing short of spectacular. (8/10)

SOUND: Again, Activision paid attention to little details that makes a game that much more fun. The updated background music and enemy sounds continue to set an eerie tone. So as a warning to those who enjoy stereo surround sound, don't pump the volume too much if you are easy to scare. (8/10)

REPLAYABILITY: Asteroids is a fun update to the original arcade classic. The object is to score the highest score possible. The levels are fun, but after a while the action becomes quite redundant. The two player mode is nice, but the abrupt ending when an opponent runs out of ships. And to add a little to replay value, a fourth ship is available upon a code or by defeating the game in the two harder levels. (6/10)

OVERALL: Asteroids is an excellent updated classics thanks to the guys and dolls at Activision. Nothing was overdone and the original gameplay was kept well intact. This is a nice little game for fans of the original vector style arcade release in 1979 or gamers wishing to be introduced to cool updated classic. Though the port of the original Asteroids leaves some to be desired, this is a good game to own in your PSX collection. I for one can't wait until they release Space Invaders later this year.